A New York lawyer spends six months researching street vendors and the informal economy on a Fulbright grant in Lagos, Nigeria.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

It all falls down

..Buildings seem to be falling down every few days in Lagos, where code enforcement is lax, if it exists at all. Many landlords apparently add an extra third or fourth level onto a structure built for two. Eleven people died in a big collapse a couple weeks ago, and several more this week. And Lagos was the site of this crazy collapse in 2007. Perhaps the building of multi-level structures is one place not to trust the informal economy.Luckily, the Lagos State government has its priorities in order. These carrots and cucumbers will not be a menace to anyone. The KAI brigade seized them from a street vendor in Agege yesterday, and I was there when they booked the guilty vegetables at headquarters. I couldn't stay long, though -- I had to rush home to make a big pot of carrot soup!.